


Apple Fritters and You

by shopfront



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Coffee Shops, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-08 03:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15921857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: When Ezri Tigan is called away from Starfleet Academy to help her family, she second guesses going back. Instead she decides to head out to the warfront in a different capacity: listening to people's problems while she serves them coffee.





	Apple Fritters and You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [scatteredmoonlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scatteredmoonlight/gifts).



“Have you heard?” Jadzia asked as she slipped in between Julian and Garak. They were standing outside the replimat, watching with morbid fascination as Chief O’Brien swore loudly on the other side of the room. He was working alongside Rom to try and stem the tide of… something gelatinous as it streamed out of the replicators, down the walls, and pooled on the floor. Even from a distance, the smell was overpowering.

“What? That the replimat's broken?” Julian asked. He threw his hands up when Jadzia just continued to grin at him, eyes twinkling. “Yes, we are well aware, thank you.”

“No, not about that. About the new coffee shop upstairs,” Jadzia replied as she looped her arms around both his and Garak’s shoulders, watching with amusement as the Chief’s ranting about Cardassian workmanship and integrated systems grew increasingly irate. “I hear it’s quite good. As good as any of the Earth cafes I tried in my Starfleet days, if Nog is to be believed.”

“How fascinating,” Garak said. He suddenly dropped his moue of distaste as he turned away from the horror scene that they had intended to use as their usual lunch spot. He dipped his head at Jadzia in thanks.

She just grinned wider and dipped her head in return, beginning to laugh openly when Garak snagged Julian by the elbow and began to forcefully tow him away.

“I think we’ve looked on here quite long enough, my dear. I would propose that we inspect this new _kaw-fee-shop_ that the charming Lieutenant has recommended, hmm?”

Julian spluttered as he was led away, but made no attempt to disengage his arm from Garak’s grip. “But what about Quark’s?” he tried, a little forlornly. “Or the Klingon restaurant? Only I’m rather hungry, and a coffee shop probably won’t have-”

“Nonsense,” Garak said stridently as they approached the stairs. “I’m sure it will be far superior to Quark’s. The Lieutenant recommended it, after all. Not that _that_ is a very high bar for any food establishment to clear.”

Sighing, Julian gave in and took the stairs two at a time to keep up with Garak. As they approached the top of the stairs, the rising stench of the replimat hit him - apparently content to hover at the ceiling level in the absence of fans, like smoke - and he gagged.

“Quite right,” Garak said fussily, as he looked back at Julian with a pointedly raised eyebrow. “Besides which, I do believe the new shop is at the opposite end of the Promenade. To both the replimat _and_ Quark’s.”

“Ah,” Julian said, his voice nasal-sounding and muffled from behind his hand as he attempted to pinch his nostrils shut and cover his mouth at the same time. Together they hurried across the upper level of the Promenade, until the smell faded and the coffee shop came into view. “I see your point.”

Garak just raised his chin with a smug grin, and spread his arms wide to usher Julian inside ahead of him.

* 

“Well, I’m afraid a Bolian customer waits for no tailor. If you’ll excuse me,” Garak said as he rose from their table a little while later. “Oh no, Doctor Bashir, please do not stop on my account.”

Julian paused mid-chew, fork hanging in mid-air as he blinked up at Garak. He swallowed with some effort before replying. “I... won’t?”

Garak smiled benevolently, albeit it with a faintly scolding air. “Until next week, then?”

Julian nodded in farewell as Garak took his leave, pocketing the isolinear rod Garak had offered him with a copy of their next planned book to discuss. Returning to his food, he watched as Garak paused to bid the shop owner farewell, before finally exiting the shop behind a few other customers. The lunch rush was already dying down. Julian had been guilty of getting far too caught up in their argument over Charles Dickens to actually eat his food, and now was stuck trying to hurriedly finish his food if he still wanted to find some extra research time before his infirmary shift started.

The owner was weaving her way through the tables towards him, though. Julian swallowed hard again, putting down his fork so he wouldn’t be caught with his mouth full once more.

“I hope the food was okay?” she asked as she gathered up Garak’s plate and mug. Her lower lip was caught between her teeth and she flashed Julian a quick side-ways glance as she worked.

“Oh, it was marvellous. Truly, I don’t think I’ve had such a good apple fritter since I left the Academy,” Julian said, beaming at her as she relaxed.

“Oh, that's a relief! You’re my first human customer since we opened and I was a little worried about whether I’d gotten the food quite right,” she said, pausing to prop her tray against her hip and tuck a lock of loose hair behind her ear.

“Well, worry no more,” Julian said grandly. He leant back in his seat as he said it, and propped an elbow on the back of his chair so he could look up at her properly. “I can confidently say that you’ve done a fantastic job here. It’s a real piece of home. Though I suppose I was a little surprised... what made you decide to open an old Earth style coffee shop above Bajor, of all places?”

The woman bit her lip again and looked around them. But the other tables were all clear, and the last few stragglers heading for the door, so she shrugged and sat down.

“Oh, I don’t know. I guess you might say I saw a few too many Federation holo-films growing up, and I wanted to try something new. Not just the same old Trill cuisine everyone would expect, you know?” she said, eyes hazy as she became seemingly lost in thought. But then she straightened up with a self-conscious chuckle, focusing again on Julian as she extended a hand. “I’m Ezri, by the way. Ezri Tigan.”

*

“She’s amazing, Miles,” Julian said in Ops a few hours later. He’d come up to deliver a report to Captain Sisko in person but had been side-tracked gossiping with Jadzia, and then with a reluctant Miles.

“So you’ve said. More than once,” Kira observed wryly, her eyebrows raised even as she continued tapping away at her console.

“Don’t tease him, Kira. He’s in love,” Jadzia said, ambling over to Kira’s console and bumping their shoulders together as she smirked at Julian. “He can’t help it if he’s entranced by her eyes. Or was it how cute her short hair looks on her? No, wait, it was her spots, I’m sure of it. Apparently she has particularly beautiful spots, even for a Trill. Or maybe the way she’s always biting her lower lip… was that it, Julian?”

Julian chuckled and shook his head. “Alright, you’ve got me. We just, oh, I don’t know. It was like- like we connected, right from the start. I’ve never felt anything like it before!”

“Yes, and that’s all just wonderful,” Miles broke in with a huff as he slammed his hyperspanner back into his kit and got up off the floor. “Okay, I've taken the faulty component out of the replicator so you won't be able to use it for a bit but at least it can’t malfunction up and flood you all with goo, either. Now look, Julian. If you like her so much, why don’t you just go ask her out? And maybe then you can leave the rest of us in peace to do our jobs.”

“I don’t know about that,” Julian said, dimming a little as he frowned. “She’s only just arrived, and I can be something of an acquired taste - as you’re all fond of telling me. I don’t want to scare her off. Besides, I hardly know anything about her.”

Jadzia and Kira exchanged skeptical looks.

“Well, let’s see,” Jadzia said, tapping a finger against her chin in thought. “You already know she grew up in New Sydney.”

“And that she left home to join Starfleet so she could get away from her family and become a counsellor,” Kira said, her lips quirking even as she continued working without looking up. “But then she had to take a leave of absence to go try and help her family cope with some legal trouble.”

“After which she could have returned to Starfleet to finish her studies. But the war had already started and if she hadn't even managed to help her family very well, she didn’t know how she could possibly be useful in a war as a brand new cadet without any experience," Miles interjected.

"Instead, she thought she could come out here to listen to people's problems in a less formal capacity," said Jadzia. "Not a bad idea, really. You then mentioned that humans usually run bars if they want to do that, but she told you she did her research and didn't want to try and compete with Quark's."

"Alright, alright-," Julian started to say but Miles didn't let him finish.

Still fishing through his kit and poking at the replicator occasionally, Miles spoke up in a wry tone as he shared an amused glance with the others. “Not that I’m sure I understand her reasoning there. It could have been entertaining for us all to watch him get into a price war with another bar. But I don’t like to chat over coffee _and_ I’m not a counsellor, so what do I know?”

Julian opened his mouth again, but Jadzia raised a hand for silence and started speaking over him. “Then she thought about going to Trill, but she’s never really liked it there because joined Trill unnerve her. Which reminds me, I’m going to have to be careful about how I introduce myself if you two are going to be dating now.”

“We’re not-,” Julian started to splutter.

“Surely if she can travel to a warfront to set up a business, she can get used to a joined Trill being friends with her boyfriend?” Kira asked, pulling a face.

Jadzia shrugged. “Some Trill do have very strong negative opinions about joining. We probably won’t know for sure until I get a chance to talk to her. But if she really likes Julian, then-”

“We don’t know if she does!” Julian said, voice rising as he stood and waved his arms in sharp cutting motions. “But if you’re all quite done making fun of me and deciding that she does, maybe it’s time I go found out whether she might for myself!”

Laughter followed him across Operations and into the turbolift. As it slowly descended, Julian gave his coworkers an exaggerated frown and shook his head as he tried, and failed, to conceal his exasperated amusement. Then he sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.

“Right, you can do this Julian," he muttered to himself, casting his eyes upwards for a moment as if talking to God or the Prophets. "Just walk up and ask her to dinner. Simple as can be.”

*

Julian was delighted when Ezri said yes to dinner. He spent the rest of his shift grinning inappropriately at patients until it was time to meet her at Quark’s. As he entered the bar, however, he was dismayed to find Quark leering at her while Ezri blushed and smiled. But she did at least seemed pleased to spot him by the door a moment later, judging by the enthusiasm of her waving.

Any relief he felt as he approached faded away just as quickly once he’d caught the tail end of their conversation, though.

“Julian was kind enough to offer to show me around,” Ezri was saying as he walked up. “I was so grateful. It’s hard to make friends when you’re new to a place and- oh, Julian, there you are!”

“Yes, Doctor Bashir is very kind,” Quark said with a smirk. “Root beer?”

“Ah, sure, thanks,” Julian replied distractedly. He noticed Leeta pass nearby and give him a sympathetic look, and sighed heavily.

“Are you alright?” Ezri asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a little… loud, in here, that’s all. It’s been a long day, with a few too many medical emergencies,” Julian said. He smiled gamely until her concerned expression faded a little.

“Oh, in that case, why don’t we go somewhere else?”

“But you just got here,” Quark called, hurrying back down the bar with Julian’s root beer held high.

Julian felt his smile slip into something a little more genuine as he waved a disgruntled Quark away. “Sorry, Quark. Maybe another time.” Then he slipped his hand under Ezri's elbow as they neared the door, helping her over the threshold before he casually returned to walking beside her.

“Where would you like to go, instead?”

“Hmm?” Julian responded, then blinked and laughed. “Oh, right. Where should we eat dinner? Well, the Klingon restaurant is almost as loud as Quark’s. All that roaring. I was thinking your cute little shop might be just the place, actually. You cook, I’ll do the dishes? I could go another one of those amazing fritters of yours.”

Ezri laughed as they got into the turbolift. “But my shop isn’t anything new, that sounds more like a-”

Julian had already winced pre-emptively, expecting the next word to come out of Ezri’s mouth to be ‘date’, so he didn’t notice when the lights flickered. But the turbolift grinding to a halt was much harder to miss. Especially when there was thump as it came to rest, one that rocked them back on their feet and into the rear wall of the lift.

“What was that?” Ezri cried, eyes wide as they staggered.

“Bashir to Ops,” Julian said instead of replying, tapping at his commbadge once he'd found his balance again. “Bashir to Ops? Damn, it’s not responding. Communications must be down across the station, as well as the power.”

Then the lights flickered again, plunging them into darkness. Stuck between floors, there was a gap at the top and bottom of the lift entrance through which raised voices could be heard calling to each other across the Promenade, but no light could be seen. Until, another moment later, the emergency lighting finally switched on.

Once Julian could see again, he noticed Ezri was still looking at him. One side of her mouth was turned up, and the corners of her eyes were crinkled in a way that made his fingers itch to reach out and caress her face.

“There’s no need to panic-”

“I know, Julian,” Ezri said, reaching over and laying a hand against Julian’s forearm. “I do still remember my first year of courses at Starfleet. This was meant to be a date, wasn’t it?”

Julian’s mouth dropped open for a moment. Then he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. “Yeah. _Yes_ , yes it was. Sorry, I didn’t intend to spring that on you when you couldn’t exactly get away if it made things uncomfortable.”

“Oh, I don’t know. It doesn't seem like such a bad tactic from my perspective,” Ezri said, looking amused. She tugged slightly on Julian’s arm, before releasing him so she could slide down the wall to sit on the floor. When Julian didn’t follow immediately, she crooked a finger. “I would still have said yes if I’d realised.”

Julian exhaled loudly, deflating like a balloon as he collapsed cross-legged next to her. “Oh thank god, I was starting to worry we were going to be stuck here in awkward silence.”

Ezri started to laugh, and after a moment Julian did as well. It took them a few minutes to calm back down, and when they did he realised they’d gravitated towards each other. Pressed shoulder to shoulder, he could feel when she stopped shaking with laugher and started to shiver, instead.

“Are you cold? The station does cool rather quickly once the heating’s turned off,” Julian said, already reaching for his jacket fastenings. “Here. It’s lucky I went back to my quarters to change out of my uniform, I’ve got plenty of layers on.”

Ezri started to protest as he slipped out of the jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Really, I’m quite warm. I'm also a little more used to the odd technical failure around here, and it does look good on you,” Julian said softly as he pulled it closer around her. He shifted slightly as he spoke, sliding one arm further around her back so she could slide closer to him if she wanted to, and she did.

“Thank you, Julian,” Ezri said, ducking her head. Julian could just make out the blush staining her cheeks.

“I’m just glad I could do something right in the date the department,” he replied wryly, gesturing vaguely around them to the broken lift.

Ezri just looked silently up at him through her eyelashes. Suddenly, she seemed ever so much closer and Julian gulped, smile dropping off his face as he screwed up his courage. When he dipped his head a little closer, she didn’t protest. So, tentatively, he pressed a kiss against her lips.

Her mouth opened beneath his eagerly, but just as quickly there was a jolt and they were moving again. When Julian pulled back he was smiling again, and Ezri’s eyes were crinkling in the corners once more.

“Close quarters, soft lighting. You don’t seem to be doing too badly to me,” she murmured.

A snort interrupted them. Flying apart in surprise, Julian pulled a face when he realised Miles was looking down on them as they drew level with the upper concourse.

“Why am I not surprised,” Miles said as the lift slowed to a stop again. He was smirking widely, and shaking his head, apparently oblivious to Julian’s pointed glare. “Oh, don’t let me interrupt! You kids get on and enjoy the rest of your date while the rest of us fix the station.”

Getting to her feet, Ezri held out her hand. “You must be Miles, Julian told me all about you at lunch,” she said brightly.

“Oh, he did, did he?” Miles said, puffing out his chest a little as he shook her hand. Julian just rolled his eyes and scrambled up as well.

“But don’t let us keep you,” Ezri said, ducking her head and biting her lip. Her eyes shone cheekily as she looked over her shoulder at Julian though, and she waited until he’d closed the distance between them and taken her by the elbow again. “We wouldn’t want to stop you from fixing the station.”

Julian nodded very seriously at Miles as he began to guide Ezri out and onto the Promenade again. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to be underfoot.”

Miles brow furrowed as he watched them go. “Now, hang on just a second-”

“Much better if we get out of his way,” Ezri agreed with Julian, nodding as she shifted her arm so his hand slipped through the crook of her elbow and linked them together.

Julian hesitated giving Miles a more serious look. "Er, what is actually the problem with the station?"

Miles huffed. "It's those ruddy Cardassian contraptions I've been pulling out of the replicators, is all. Apparently they-"

"Right! Not a medical emergency, then. Good luck with all that, Chief," Julian said and started walking.

“But the commbadges still aren’t working. What if I need a hand?” Miles called after them.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll know where to find me, Chief,” Julian called back, picking up the pace at Mile’s outraged shout. Together, Ezri and Julian fled down the Promenade until they were around the bend and out of sight, and right by the entrance to Ezri’s coffeeship. Quietly, Ezri nudged open the shutters and they slipped through, then she engaged the manual lock from the inside.

“There,” she said, leaning back against the closed door and blushing again. She fidgeted with the hem of her newly acquired jacket for a moment before she reached out. Snagging Julian by the front of his shirt, she pulled him flush against her. “Now where were we?”

“Oh, I might have a few suggestions,” Julian murmured, and leaned down to show her.


End file.
